Truck wheel ring straightener

sometimes accidents happen. In the case of an aquaintance's 1940 ish truck such an event took place He is doing a mega buck bolt by bolt better than factory restoration, and this means some parts are very expensive if you can even find them. the tires alone are over $800.00 each plus shipping and there are 10 of them, they will only fit properly on the original 4 piece rims which consist of rim inner and outer bead rings and outer lock ring. Somehow the truck got knocked off the stands the wheels were on it but not the tires on 1 axle the wheel hit something on the ground and was damaged He searched for a month for a replacement bead ring that was in good enough shape to serve as a replacement.to no avail at least not one in a price range he was comfortable with we are talking over $600.00 just for a rusty bead ring that may or may not be round or one that wasn't so beat up from years of use that it would cost hundreds more to get it back to serviceable condition. I saw a thread on another forum where he had posted about it with a dozen in my opinion half backed or non experienced answers. So I just flipped out a post and said just send it to me before you manage to break it into a couple dozen pieces 1 dozen OK not 2 dozen.Then I forgot about it. the next morning I get a phone call. Frank do you remember me? You welded up that 1936 Atomic 4 engine block for that had a 3 ft long crack for DR. Piske. about 30 years ago. I was the one who told you it couldn't be done. Yea I remember, what you got, I asked. It's my wheel that is bent that you said send it to you before I break it. if you think you can repair it give me your address.
the ring arrived by UPS AIR 2 days later,Friday about noon,
bent in 2 planes and egged on 2 sides
after a little heat never enough to get it hot enough to change color and a lot of massaging with a very small hammer less than a pound it is beginning to take shape
I just happened to find a 23.780" steel disk to use as a shaping die or anvil if you will.
I used flat bar strips to force the ring over width 90° to the bent areas.
its round now but still .090" out he could have lived with .125" out or round
But I wasn't satisfied so I welded a half round to my table then made a cam type lever stretcher so I could hook the ring on 1 side then pull the other by rotating the cam on a1" bolt in a hole in my table
after pulling and massaging with a hammer several times I boxed the ring back up and sent it home at .020" probably as round as it was the day it was forge rolled total time with making the lever cam under 4 hours If I had wanted to make a 160 mile round trip I could have sent it back the same day I got it.I wasn't about to try and get it powder coated his guy in California can do that.

Back in the day (I'm 70) there was a ring like that stuck in the ceiling of the old truckstop in Belmond, Ia. Damn things were dangerous!

they were more dangerous in the hands of inexperienced or non attentive tire men.
2 piece rims were more dangerous that the 3 or 4 piece since on a 2 piece the bead ring was also the lock ring which was split to allow installation
3 &4 piece rims had a separate lock ring like the heavy equipment tires still use.
2 and 5 ton Chevrolet had what every tire man called the widow maker rims ton those the rim separated in the center but had to be deformed to make them lock together since they were not split but had a rolled over edge like curling your hands then locking them together On those you mounted the tire then put in about 10 PSI to fill the tube then let the air out and tap the center to make sure it was seated together then trhe safest way to inflate them was ot install on the inside duels put on the outside then air it up to about 30 PSI let the truck down off the jack drive it back and forth a few times then let the air out again before airing it up all the way .
For split rings which is probably what you saw embedded in the ceiling after mounting them up you put in about 10 to 15 PSI the let the air out and tap the ring all the way round to make sure it was seated as the air was coming out then turn it over with the ring down and chain it to an anchor in the floor with 2 or 3 3/8" transport chains then air it up or install it on the truck always on a rear axle os there was either an outside tire next to it or it was facing the inside tire If it was a steering tire you put it on a back axle first once aired up move the truck back and forth a few times before removing and installing on the steer axle.
Or if you had a safety cage you could use one of those but more care was needed in a cage than the other way.
You never used a short inflater because you never wanted your hands or arms near the rings good way to wind up with only 1 arm. Saw one guy not take the time to do it fight the ring just barely shaved his forehead He was lucky since had he been 1/4" closer it would have scalped him
Dangerous Yes! but mostly only when safety protocols were not followed or damaged rims were used.
This is why the guy sent it to me because he knew I know something about them. and he is going to mount it on the inside of the rim not the lock ring side so there is no possibility it can fail

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